Use The Death Penalty

Guilty Pleas Should Not Buy Life Sentences For Killers

Thomas Royal Jr. admits that he shot Hampton police officer Kenny Wallace in February. Wallace was sitting in his patrol car when Royal shot him twice in the head.

Todd Moore admits that he killed Antwan Mathis in 1992 and ran an illegal drug operation that brought cocaine to Hampton Roads from New York. Moore is also charged with two murders in New York.

Royal, in Hampton Circuit Court, and Moore, in federal court, have each pleaded guilty to capital murder. Each man could receive the death penalty. Each man should be put to death for his crimes.

The fact that the two men chose to plead guilty without a plea agreement - thereby risking the death penalty - is unusual. But the guilty pleas are more likely attempts to manipulate the system than they are demonstrations of remorse. Courts have historically been more lenient with defendants who admit their crimes. Judges rarely impose the harshest possible sentence on defendants who express sorrow and apologize to their victims.

Neither Royal, 26, nor Moore, 22, deserve such consideration from the courts. They are unfortunate examples of what happens when a child grows up without a conscience. Admitting the crimes, as Moore has done, or asking forgiveness from the Wallace family, as Royal has done, does not mean that either man can ever be a productive member of society. Instead of considering what they have said and done since being arrested, the courts should focus only on their heinous crimes and the grief they have caused for innocent people.

Anything less than the death penalty for Royal and Moore will be a miscarriage of justice.